9 July 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2793: I probably deserved that

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Nine-year-old Milton Trent went to find his best friend nine-year-old George Ludlow after a conversation with his sisters about how his grandfather had snatched up a disrespectful farmer's whole farm.

“So then, I said how could that guy let himself get caught out there and then Gracie said the farmer got caught out there the same way I get caught out there because I think about what I want rather than what I need, and that was kinda deep, man.”

George Ludlow considered this, and then sat down on his porch stairs.

“That is kinda deep, Milton. It's like my brother Andrew never gets into trouble – even Eleanor messes up more often, although that's still like zero vs. one type of numbers – but Andrew is thinking about what I need, what Eleanor needs, what Edwina, Amanda, Grayson, and Robert need, what Papa needs, what Grandma needs, and probably what you and your siblings and your cousin Vertran needs, and then maybe what he needs, but what he really needs is to make sure we all have what we need. So, he doesn't really have time to get into trouble. He's basically Papa all over again with some Cousin Harry quietness added on.”

“Yeah, that's probably accurate,” Milton said, and Mrs. Ludlow, hearing Milton using that word correctly in light of his and George's not-as-well thought-out hijinks, went back into the house to laugh.

“But that just proves the point,” Capt. R.E. Ludlow said to her as he chuckled. “Milton is highly intelligent, just like George – but impulse control is not there yet.”

“You know that also means Andrew is more grown at ten than most adults we know,” Mrs. Ludlow said.

“George is right about him too,” Capt. Ludlow said. “He basically is modeling himself after me, but in personality he is a dead ringer for his cousin Col. H.F. Lee. Harry was raised by his grandparents, and they were traveling the Blue Ridge taking care of folks and so that's why he is the way he is. That's all he ever knew – but let's get back to surveilling the two intellects on our porch. We may learn something!”

“Yeah, like the next part of the house and yard we immediately need to put eyes on,” Mrs. Ludlow said.

“That's something,” Capt. Ludlow said, and then they crept up again toward the back porch.

“Yeah, I probably deserved that grounding because I can think back and realize I was kinda stupid,” George said. “What I should have done was wear my slippers when I was climbing to the roof so Papa would have known what we were doing with homemade helicopters when it worked. I didn't give him a good chance to understand.”

“Yep,” Milton said. “We gotta think about what we need to get to what we want.”

Ten-year-old Andrew Ludlow had been walking up to the house and was mirroring his grandfather's facepalm at that moment.

“What you both need to do,” he said when he looked up, “if you want to survive to get to whatever you want, is to look behind you before talking this mess!” he said, and

George and Milton looked –.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!”

The Ludlow grandparents fell out laughing as George and Milton ran for their lives, and Andrew shook his head.

“Lord, are they ever going to get it?” he said. “I've seen what You've done for others … .”

He had no idea, but his precocious sincerity added another five minutes to his grandparents' enjoyment!